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jswinden · 10-03-2012, 01:10 PM

I think some of those who have the "good" units are basing a lot of their assumptions almost solely on their good unit and its performance. They are seeing a tiny bit of shadowing (blotchiness) throughout the screen and can clearly notice the shadows at the bottom 1/2" of the screen. In many cases they have heard these shadows existed and had to search hard to find them. Since they have nothing "bad" to compare it to, they devise some strange reasons why some people or so disappointed with their units. Their good units after all are nice by comparison.

What seems to be a fact is that all or nearly all of the units have the LED shadows at the bottom of the screen, but in most cases this is not a big deal.

Some "bad" units have obviously shipped. It happens with every product. Stuff happens. Delivery guys drop packages, poor QC, inconsistent parts quality, et cetera. Every company faces a small percentage of bad units being shipped. But with the KPW there are two main complaints I'm reading about concerning "bad" units: There are units with less brightness in lighting and there are units with the severe case of blotchiness including extremely dark areas of the screen. And some with both.

I've read several people who say their "bad" unit has such dim lighting that they cannot tell the light is even on until they get around level 20 of 24. Most of these seem to not have the shadows and blotches. They say their screens look consistently lit but much darker than they thought they should be.

I've read a lot more cases, including my own, where the screens have severe shadows and blotchiness to the point of causing eyestrain. Unless you have one of these it is going to be difficult to understand just how awful they are. A few have written that they got two units where one is good and one is bad and they can tell a huge difference between the two.

In my case I seem to have an additional problem with font weights displaying in a very inconsistent and annoying way. The more I look at it and the more I think about it I'm leaning toward thinking this issue is somehow connected to the blotchy screen shadows and lighting issues. If you turn up the lighting on any eInk it tends to wash out fonts and make them look thinner because the font shadows begin to disappear. (Sorry, I cannot remember the official terminology for font shadows and shading et cetera.) But those shadows which add to a font's thickness and smoothness are lighter than the main portion and tend to get washed out first, resulting in thin washed out looking fonts. So it could well be that inconsistent lighting is causing my font issues.

It is true that taking photos of light emitting objects requires a good camera with manual controls and a good photographer. Using a consumer point and shoot camera on full auto will not work well. Using a professional camera on full auto will also not work well. That is why I used my higher level Canon 60D with a fully manual lense when I took the last photo I attached above. I used a tripod, normal room lighting, manual focus, and manual aperture setting so I could fully control the image. I do a lot of astrophotography so I am no slouch at taking photos of bright objects in dark surroundings. That photo is a very good depiction of my actual PW screen. Others have seen it on different forums and said that it looked like their screen. So the problem does exist beyond doubt.

It is not about marketing. Anyone with an ounce of grey matter knows that marketing commercials are never to be trusted. Otherwise we would all be driving cars which actually got the advertised fuel mileage, bald guys would have long flowing hair on their heads, and couples would remain happily married for 50 years after meeting in an online dating service! Yeah, not gonna happen, and deep down I think most people know that. I've no doubt that marketing hype does effect a lot of people, but we here at MR are a cut above most people!

But even though I know there are in fact a lot of bad unit reports, I suspect the percentages are fairly low--as in a small fraction of 1 percent. We have been living in Kindle Forum Land for the past few days, and true to history a few reports of bad units gets magnified because most people with good units don't report that, at least not as loudly. Any dentist will tell you that a small drop of blood mixed in with your saliva looks like a mouth full of blood, but it is only a drop so don't panic. Same goes for these bad units. They probably represent a tiny drop only, and once Amazon admits the issue exists and finds the cause, they will undoubtedly make the necessary corrections.

10-03-2012, 01:10 PM	#276
jswinden Nameless Being	I think some of those who have the "good" units are basing a lot of their assumptions almost solely on their good unit and its performance. They are seeing a tiny bit of shadowing (blotchiness) throughout the screen and can clearly notice the shadows at the bottom 1/2" of the screen. In many cases they have heard these shadows existed and had to search hard to find them. Since they have nothing "bad" to compare it to, they devise some strange reasons why some people or so disappointed with their units. Their good units after all are nice by comparison. What seems to be a fact is that all or nearly all of the units have the LED shadows at the bottom of the screen, but in most cases this is not a big deal. Some "bad" units have obviously shipped. It happens with every product. Stuff happens. Delivery guys drop packages, poor QC, inconsistent parts quality, et cetera. Every company faces a small percentage of bad units being shipped. But with the KPW there are two main complaints I'm reading about concerning "bad" units: There are units with less brightness in lighting and there are units with the severe case of blotchiness including extremely dark areas of the screen. And some with both. I've read several people who say their "bad" unit has such dim lighting that they cannot tell the light is even on until they get around level 20 of 24. Most of these seem to not have the shadows and blotches. They say their screens look consistently lit but much darker than they thought they should be. I've read a lot more cases, including my own, where the screens have severe shadows and blotchiness to the point of causing eyestrain. Unless you have one of these it is going to be difficult to understand just how awful they are. A few have written that they got two units where one is good and one is bad and they can tell a huge difference between the two. In my case I seem to have an additional problem with font weights displaying in a very inconsistent and annoying way. The more I look at it and the more I think about it I'm leaning toward thinking this issue is somehow connected to the blotchy screen shadows and lighting issues. If you turn up the lighting on any eInk it tends to wash out fonts and make them look thinner because the font shadows begin to disappear. (Sorry, I cannot remember the official terminology for font shadows and shading et cetera.) But those shadows which add to a font's thickness and smoothness are lighter than the main portion and tend to get washed out first, resulting in thin washed out looking fonts. So it could well be that inconsistent lighting is causing my font issues. It is true that taking photos of light emitting objects requires a good camera with manual controls and a good photographer. Using a consumer point and shoot camera on full auto will not work well. Using a professional camera on full auto will also not work well. That is why I used my higher level Canon 60D with a fully manual lense when I took the last photo I attached above. I used a tripod, normal room lighting, manual focus, and manual aperture setting so I could fully control the image. I do a lot of astrophotography so I am no slouch at taking photos of bright objects in dark surroundings. That photo is a very good depiction of my actual PW screen. Others have seen it on different forums and said that it looked like their screen. So the problem does exist beyond doubt. It is not about marketing. Anyone with an ounce of grey matter knows that marketing commercials are never to be trusted. Otherwise we would all be driving cars which actually got the advertised fuel mileage, bald guys would have long flowing hair on their heads, and couples would remain happily married for 50 years after meeting in an online dating service! Yeah, not gonna happen, and deep down I think most people know that. I've no doubt that marketing hype does effect a lot of people, but we here at MR are a cut above most people! But even though I know there are in fact a lot of bad unit reports, I suspect the percentages are fairly low--as in a small fraction of 1 percent. We have been living in Kindle Forum Land for the past few days, and true to history a few reports of bad units gets magnified because most people with good units don't report that, at least not as loudly. Any dentist will tell you that a small drop of blood mixed in with your saliva looks like a mouth full of blood, but it is only a drop so don't panic. Same goes for these bad units. They probably represent a tiny drop only, and once Amazon admits the issue exists and finds the cause, they will undoubtedly make the necessary corrections. Last edited by jswinden; 10-03-2012 at 01:16 PM.